Manchester International Festival is the world’s first festival of original, new work and special events and takes place biennially, in Manchester, UK.
The Festival launched in 2007 as an artist-led, commissioning festival presenting new works from across the spectrum of performing arts, music, visual arts and popular culture. With a wide-ranging programme and more free events, the second Festival (2-19 July 2009) was designed to be exhilarating, thought-provoking and welcoming to all.
‘Manchester is the beating cultural heart of Britain’
The Observer July 2007
‘Manchester International Festival – a triumph of bold commissioning’
Financial Times 2009
Festival FAQs
Why does Manchester hold an International Festival?
Manchester International Festival celebrates the city’s pivotal role in music, culture, innovation and the arts and aims to build on the legacy of the hugely successful Commonwealth Games held in 2002.
The aim is for the Festival to become a major cultural event in the international calendar: an artist-led festival that enables leading international artists to create new work, encouraging local, national and international visitors to Manchester, and providing opportunities for local communities to participate, volunteer and see world-class artists in their city.
What sort of events does the Festival stage?
Manchester International Festival is the world’s first Festival of original, new work. The Festival programme features a wide range of events and works, all specially created for the Festival. They include music, visual arts, theatre, dance, food and family events, some indoor and some outdoor, all presented by internationally acclaimed artists and co-producers.
What are the aims of the Festival?
MIF has established 4 key aims for the organisation:
To consolidate Manchester International Festival’s position as the leading festival of original, new work, created by a wide range of major international artists.
- Presenting world premieres and special events by internationally acclaimed artists
- Sustaining relationships with key artists across a number of festivals
- Building strong working relationships with leading cultural organisations
To help secure Manchester’s reputation as a leading cultural city and showcase its ability to deliver major large-scale events.
- Creating an ambitious risk-taking festival that animates the city centre
- Attracting a conspicuously broad audience, regionally, nationally and internationally
- Gaining significant media coverage, locally, nationally and internationally
To help build the creative potential of Manchester’s different communities and artists through a series of innovative, high quality community-based commissions and creative development programmes.
- Building a long-term and innovative community engagement programme delivered to the same ambitions and values as the rest of the Festival
- Ensuring that there are opportunities for all Manchester residents to attend events in the Festival – through a programme of free events, discount tickets and audience access programmes
To ensure that the Festival is a sustainable event – financially and environmentally.
- Building a mixed funding base for the Festival, combining public and private sector support with an entrepreneurial approach to fundraising and a rigorous approach to cost control
- Working towards making the Festival a model of sustainability – ie creating an enduring and balanced approach to economic activity, environmental responsibility and social progress throughout the Festival’s activities.
What are the dates of the Festival?
The 2011 Festival dates will be announced later this year.
The 2009 Festival ran from 2 – 19 July,
the 2007 Festival ran from 28 June – 15 July.
Why is the Festival not an annual event?
All of the work presented by the Festival is original, new work commissioned and produced by the Festival and its partners. The two-year cycle of the Festival allows time to identify and build relationships with leading international artists and to produce the work itself.
During the in-between years many of the shows made for the Festival will tour to partner venues and festivals, taking work made in Manchester out to an international audience. A core team works year round on the Festival and on the touring programme.
If I missed the Festival is there any way to see the shows?
Many of the shows form the 2009 Festival will be touring internationally. Carlos Acosta, Prima Donna, JS Bach / Zaha Hadid Architects, Oily Cart’s Something in the Air, The Difference Engine, Durutti Column’s Paean to Wilson and Young@Heart in End of the Road will all appear in other cities, please check the news section of the website for dates.
Monkey: Journey to the West from the ‘07 Festival appeared at Theatre du Chatelet, Paris, Spoleto Festival, USA, Royal Opera House Covent Garden and a specially built venue at London’s O2.
Have there been any other Festival events?
There were three trailblazers prior to the inaugural Festival in 2007.
The first was Gorillaz: Demon Days Live at Manchester Opera House in November 2005, the second was The Schools Festival Song, a new piece by Ennio Morricone and Nicholas Royle sung by an 8,000-strong school’s choir, December 2006.
The third and final pre-festival commission was Queen and Country by Turner prize-winning artist Steve McQueen. Installed at Manchester Central Library in February 2007, the piece was made up of stamps featuring the image of British Service personnel killed in the Iraq war.
In 2008 the Festival welcomed Leonard Cohen to Manchester for his first UK shows in more than 15 years.
Where do the events take place?
The Festival events take place across the city in a range of established venues including the Palace Theatre, Bridgewater Hall, the Opera House, The Lowry, Manchester Art Gallery, Royal Exchange Theatre and the Whitworth Art Gallery.
Some of the Festival’s free events took place in public spaces, such as Manchester Peace Gardens, the Town Hall and Deansgate. Non-traditional venues have also been used, including Manchester Velodrome, an office building in Spinningfields and the Festival’s specially built Pavilion in Albert Square.
How many events are there?
The 2009 Festival featured 20 world premieres and several special events in 17 venues across the city, including the Festival’s temporary, pop-up venue, the Pavilion Theatre in Albert Square. The 2007 Festival featured 25 premieres.
Many of the world premiere events run for several performances across the Festival, giving audiences more opportunities to experience them.
A number of the events will have a life beyond the Festival, both in Manchester and around the world.
How many people attend the Festival?
During the inaugural Festival in 2007 more than 200,000 people attended events or participated in community projects, educational workshops and free events. Around 230,000 people attended the 2009 Festival.
Where does the funding for the Festival come from?
The Festival is a limited company and registered charity with funding from the public and private sectors and income from ticket sales, plus money from local, national and international co-commissioning partners.
How can local people get involved?
There are many opportunities for the public to get involved in the Festival. The MIF volunteer scheme welcomed more than 300 local people to work in all areas of the 2009 Festival. MIF Creative, the Festival’s creative learning programme, worked with over 2,500 local people and included four major commissions created in collaboration with local communities, schools or groups. Both the 2007 and 2009 Festival also featured local involvement in creative skills development workshops and arts education workshops with international and local artists.